Fireproof Ministries - Strip Church Issue

The latest issue of the Fireproof Magazine feauturing the stripchurch.com network

Join the Network
The Strip Church Network is the best place to start developing your ministry team
to reach women working in the sex industry. You will find encouragement,
experience, prayer, resources, and power for ministry. Once you attend one of
Annual
our Strip Church Trainings, you will be invited to join the Strip Church Network.
Fee Only
$50
N
ever in my entire life did I think I would ever set foot in a strip
club. I’ve always grown up as the “goody two-shoes,” the girl
who stayed away from anything risqué. But as I have become a part of
this ministry, I have experienced a whole new world of things, including walking through the doors of a strip club… as well as three different porn conventions!
I never envisioned being in this type of ministry, but since I started,
it has become a full-blown passion for me. As the Strip Church Coordinator, I cover all the event logistics for our Strip Church Trainings,
manage the registrations, and run our social media sites. I also help to
manage our Strip Church Network, updating our network members
and providing them with resources and encouragement. Since I am
constantly in contact with our network members and those who attend our training events, I get to watch the big-picture outcome of the
ministries in our network.
It is amazing to witness the progression from receiving that first
email from a woman interested in training, and then see her down
the road thriving in her ministry! I’ve witnessed the freedom a former
dancer experienced when she went back into the strip club for the
first time with a different purpose. I’ve seen women who were unsure whether they could make our training event because of finances,
only to have God provide 100% of the money they needed to attend.
I’ve watched a woman attend training and start her ministry literally
three weeks later. I’ve seen a woman sign up the day before our event
and drive from Utah to California to attend training—who now has a
thriving ministry!
I absolutely love watching God put stories together, making a way
for each unique woman to come in contact with our ministry. It excites
me each time I see a new registration pop up in my email, because
that means more women in this industry will be reached around the
world. I am passionate about being a part of what God is doing in and
through Strip Church, and am beyond excited for what is to come!
Tara
- The Network features Monthly training with women
and men who are leading sex
industry outreaches across
the world. We have different
leaders on the calls each month,
occasionally bringing back the
ones you want to hear more
from. We use an interactive webconferencing tool, bringing you
in and making you a part of the
conversation.
Prayer, guidance, wisdom, and
encouragement specific to club
and sex industry ministry.
One-on-one coaching
Listed as part of our
International Network
Networked connections
with other club ministries
around the world
Members-only training blog
(extra resources connected
with the monthly topics and
written specifically regarding
the challenges brought up by
our member ministries)
Annual alumni retreat/training
for trained and networked club
(cost of this is only $99
for the weekend)
A new web presence:
www.StripChurch.com/YourCity
or /YourMinistryName
Access to ‘Strip Church
Resources’ marketplace
tara@stripchurch.com
Tara Ulrich
Strip Church Coordinator
StripChurch.com
3
Strip Church Network on Location:
Louisville, Kentucky
“I
San Diego
’m not sure how this attitude came about,” says
Sheri Brown, “but I used to hate strippers.”
“Used to” is the key phrase in that quote, because
Brown now heads up JC’s Girls in San Diego, an organization
that ministers to women who work in Southern California’s
burgeoning sex industry, and which has been affiliated with
The Rock Church since 2006.
In fact, Brown’s involvement in JC’s Girls sprung from
a conversation she had with Theresa Scher, a former sex
industry worker and, until recently, Brown’s partner in
leading JC’s Girls (Scher stepped down a few months ago
to spend more time with her family). Brown approached
Scher immediately after hearing her testimony at a women’s
retreat, introduced herself, and put it right out there: “I
used to hate women like you, but God’s changed my heart.”
Scher suggested Brown join her in bringing JC’s Girls to
San Diego, and the rest is history.
All Smiles The JC’s Girls strive to reach out to women
with an overwhelming passion free of condemnation.
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“I was that annoying Christian who was so critical of
people who weren’t like me,” Brown says, reflecting on the
young woman she used to be. “I would drive by strip clubs
and get angry at the women who worked there, even though
I didn’t know any of them.”
Unlike many of the women who are part of the Strip
Church Network of ministries, Brown has never worked in
the sex industry. But she has more in common with many
of the women she used to look down on; more than she
originally thought.
Brown’s turnaround started when she got a
job working with teenage women who were either pregnant
or parenting, helping them complete their education. As a
single mother of two herself, and someone who had been a
teen mom, Brown felt certain she had the life experience to
speak into these young mothers.
But God has a way of humorously pointing out our
foibles, as He did with Brown. Because the first four women
she was assigned to help? Strippers.
“My ideas about women in the sex industry were
really rooted in cultural ignorance and, honestly, selfrighteousness,” reflects Brown. “I mean, I had been a teen
mom myself, and I would think, ‘I don’t have to strip for a
living, why do you?’”
Soon the light broke through and Brown began to see
herself in the women she was helping, finding that she had
experienced a lot of the same things they had, including
sexual abuse at a young age and major, as she terms it,
“Daddy issues.”
“The only difference between me and them,” she says,
“is that I knew Jesus and they didn’t. And that’s when my
heart changed.”
Sheri Brown did a complete turnaround, and instead of
hating dancers, developed what she calls “an overwhelming
passion to reach out to these precious women in love and
without condemnation.”
But when you become a leader, especially in this type
of ministry, you become a target. “This work is real,” says
Brown. “This is no joke.”
Brown now speaks from experience. Shortly after she joined
the leadership team at JC’s Girls in San Diego, her father died, her
oldest son left home to join the military, and her grandmother was
diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, leaving Brown awash in a sea of
lost relationships and sending her into a deep, depressive state.
“For the next two years, I was in the worst place of my entire life,”
Brown recalls haltingly, searching for the right words as she chokes
back tears. “I was just a mess.”
Then comes a barrage of obviously difficult admissions: “I started to
turn my back on the Lord. I started to live my life for me. I didn’t want
to be married, I didn’t want to be a mother, I didn’t want to live up to
the expectations of a leader.” She sighs heavily and takes a deep breath,
and now the tears become audible as her voice cracks with regret. “I
was so lost.”
But God found her.
“The same type of love that we show to the women we minister to,
that’s the type of love that Theresa [Scher] and my pastor showed to
me. Unconditional love.” Her tears are flowing freely now. “I tell the
women I minister to all the time that there’s nothing they can do to
make Jesus love them any less, and now I understand that for myself.”
“For the first time in over a year, I opened a Bible. I had been using
a reading plan, so I just picked up where I left off, in Isaiah 44. But
instead of reading the words ‘Jacob’ or ‘Israel,’ I instinctively read my
own name.”
The passage Brown refers to is Isaiah 44:21-22, which she read as
“Pay attention, O [Sheri], for you are my servant… I, the LORD made
you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud,
I have scattered your offenses like morning mist. Oh, return to me, for
I have paid the price to set you free.” [NLT]
That scripture, combined with earnest prayer from a new friend,
changed everything. “God broke through and I could breathe again,”
Brown says. “I was free from my bondage.”
That was two years ago, and Brown now has a renewed passion and
a purpose, as well as the understanding that even those who encourage
need encouragement.
“Now when I see the women in the clubs,”
she says, “I really see me.”
Sheri
We approached one club owner, who’d been in the business
for over 25 years, and asked her if we could bring home-cooked
meals into her club to share with the ladies. She reluctantly agreed,
and became agitated with us every time we visited.
Nevertheless, our team continued to pray for her when we
weren’t visiting and to offer to pray with her when we were visiting.
We began to see breakthroughs in some of the ladies who worked
there, and one by one, they started leaving the industry.
All the while, God was working on this club owner, until the
fateful day when we came to bring food and this owner greeted
us at the door. “Because of what you’ve shown me and my family,
we’ve decided to give our lives to Jesus,” she said. And then she
went one step further: “We no longer want to live like this, so we’re
shutting down the strip club!”
Right then and there, in the back of a dark, dingy strip club, our
team knelt with this now-former strip club owner and led her to
Jesus. We can’t wait to see what she does next!
Strip Church Network on Location:
Tacoma, Washington
Over the past year, we’ve been slowly building a friendship with
one woman in particular, sharing stories of Christmas celebrations,
family vacations, raising our children, and what we each like to
do in our free time. Our conversations tend to turn toward God’s
unconditional love and the plan that He has for each of our lives.
This woman was raised in church and knows the lingo, but had
turned away from God and, consequently, forgotten how much
He loves her.
Well, on our most recent visit, this friend excitedly announced
to us that she had decided to turn her life back over to God’s
control and to leave the industry! She is now starting the journey
of discovering Jesus’ love for her, the depth of His grace, and the
process of healing and redemption!
StripChurch.com
5
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Detroit
Chicago
Dallas
I started dancing for the money.
I was 19 when a group of women entered my
social scene. They were all older than me, and they
were all dancers. As peer pressure goes when you’re a
teenager, the money they had and the way they spent
it were enough to convince me to join them dancing,
I found
myself stuck
in a world
I didn’t expect
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so I did an amateur night at the local strip club, won
a couple hundred bucks, and started working in
another city the following week.
The money was great, but I soon found myself
stuck in a world I didn’t expect; within three weeks
I started using cocaine and dropped out of college.
After all, keeping up with a job that has you drunk
and high until 5 am isn’t conducive to attending
your 8 am classes at the University. Besides, I had a
new career now.
I went downhill very quickly.
About three months into that new career, I became
pregnant, and that felt like my way out of what had
become a nightmare. I re-enrolled at school, and
started where I’d left off, promising to be diligent
this time.
Two weeks after I gave birth to my daughter, I was
right back in the club.
I was able to stay a little bit more on track this
time because I felt like I had something to live for.
Plus, I set a deadline for this madness, promising
myself it would all end when I graduated college.
That happened in August of 2001, after I finished
my junior and senior year in just nine months.
Unfortunately, 9/11 happened just weeks later,
which was a death knell to a new college graduate
looking for a job in a suddenly rapidly declining
Strip Church Network on Location:
economy. I told myself I’d just work a few weeks in
the suburbs while I tried to find a “real” job, but
instead I found an upscale club downtown Chicago,
where I could make more in three nights than I
could if I had a Ph.D.
My favorite city started eating me
alive. The money didn’t make me happy; instead,
it left me empty and directionless, so I started
drinking every day to cope. Then I left Chicago to
marry my daughter’s father, hoping that would help
me escape from the sex industry. But the marriage
was so toxic and abusive that I left him six weeks
later and went to Michigan.
I moved in order to put my life back together, but
now that I had large lawyer bills for a divorce, I did
the only thing I knew to do: I started dancing again,
first at a new club in Detroit before moving to Las
Vegas to join a friend of mine.
I had been a dancer for six years by then, and
to say I was burnt out was an understatement. My
friend also escorted, where she made in an hour what
took me eight hours of dancing to make. It wasn’t
long before I started, too.
That was when I realized my life had spun out of
control and it was time for me to do something else.
So I jumped on a plane and headed back home, once
more, to Michigan.
A few months later, I found out I was pregnant again.
I’d already had one abortion before I had my daughter,
and since she was born, I’d had three more. So, without
a plan or really any income, I scheduled an appointment
to have another one. But as the day drew closer, I found
myself very, very uncomfortable about it.
Finally, I did something out of the ordinary for
me: I prayed. I wasn’t entirely sure why, but I just
said, “God, if You’re real, and You can hear me, then
I don’t think You want me to do this. But I’m not
Detroit, Michigan
going to stop it; You have to stop it.”
This one simple prayer changed my entire life. My appointment
got cancelled; I made another one. Cancelled. Five times.
The following winter, my son was born.
A month later, even though I’d never read a Bible before in my
life, a scripture reference popped into my
head, just a still, small voice inside myself,
over and over again, saying, “Matthew
4:16… Matthew 4:16.” I asked my sister
what she thought it
meant, so she got a
Bible and looked it
up: “Those that have
sat in darkness have
seen a great light.”
The next day, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I suddenly understood that Jesus Christ was the only way to
get to God, that I was forgiven, and I was born again. I started
going to church as much as possible and reading the Bible every
chance I got. It was quite a transformation.
At the age of 30, I sought the Lord for purpose. He spoke
clearly, and told me to go back into the places He’d rescued me
out of and tell His daughters that He loves them, so we founded
Eve’s Angels.
Eve’s Angels has now expanded to five cities: Grand Rapids,
Lansing, Detroit, Chicago, and our newest addition in Dallas.
We set up outreaches, Bible studies, and support groups to
women in the sex industry, but we never tell them to quit; we
leave that to Jesus. We do however tell them that they’re loved
right where they are, and that if they want to make a career
change, we’re there to support them and walk them through the
process. We’re now housing and supporting women in Grand
Rapids and are in the process of securing a large housing unit
in Chicago to help women across the country on a larger scale.
I started dancing for the money, but seeing the lives that are
being changed, and helping women live out their purpose, is
far more rewarding. I’ve discovered, and am now helping others
discover, true wealth.
Anny
We helped one woman leave the industry, helping her find
regular employment outside of selling herself. We were, of course,
delighted for her, but that delight turned into sheer glee when she
called us, crying with tears of joy, and said, “I just got my first
paycheck ever with my clothes on!”
Strip Church Network on Location:
Brisbane, Australia
Here is a direct quote from one of the women we’ve helped,
and it sums up our feelings perfectly: “Nobody has ever loved me
with a love that is clean and pure. Until I met you ladies, and you
have loved me with His love until I found it for myself, and then He
made me clean from the inside out.”
That is the type of love we’re still showing to some of the women
we encounter in the strip clubs. In fact, we’re finally starting to
see breakthrough in one woman after more than four years of
unconditional love. She has been living with a dysfunctional
boyfriend and working in a brothel to, in her words, “survive,” but
she now made a decision to move out and to move closer to our
halfway house in the area so she can be closer to God and, again
in her words, “thrive.” Breakthrough is beautiful.
Strip Church Network on Location:
Las Vegas, Nevada
We have been visiting one particular club for a few months and
have befriended the valet. One evening we showed up with some
gifts for the different dancers, only to find that this club had hired a
new housemom who refused to allow us to bring them in.
Without asking or receiving prompting from us, the valet came
to us and said, “Give the gifts to me. I’ll keep them in the valet
keyhouse, and as each dancer leaves to go to her car, I’ll make
sure she gets it.” We were overjoyed—we hadn’t planned on
ministering to the valet! “It’s important that every one of the dancers
gets their gifts, and I’ll see to it personally that they do,” he said.
There are no boundaries with God!
StripChurch.com
7
Still In front
of the camera
But now Crissy’s time
is spent speaking and
P
inspiring women to
pursue healing (top left),
eople often ask me how or why I got into the porn industry. It wasn’t something I
planned, but I can say this: if you take a broken girl starving for love and give her
national media, drawing
attention to the pitfalls
of
glamour
and attention that she’s never had before, then you would have me.
the pornMy
lifestyleearliest
(above).
memories of my childhood are from when I was about four years old, when a
man in our neighborhood abused me sexually. I can still picture it, as he became the first
person—but not the last—to sexually abuse me.
as well as appearing on
A broken girl
starving for love
and give her
glamour and
attention
I do have some happy memories from childhood, though. I loved going to church, where I accepted Jesus as my
Savior when I was just eleven years old. But around that time, my dad became an abusive alcoholic and got kicked out of the church. About
a year later, my parents separated and subsequently divorced. Just before Christmas that year, my parents had a big argument where my dad
threatened to kill my mom if she drove me and my brother to our grandma’s house for the holiday… so she left. Without us. My dad handed
each of us a trash bag, told us to pack what we wanted to bring, and—just like that—we moved to another city.
My mother still came to visit occasionally. One of my saddest memories is from the time she came close to Valentine’s Day. My brother
and I were gone with my dad all day, and he had been drinking, and even though we kept reminding him that mom was coming, he ignored
us. We didn’t get home until it was too late. We found some candy, some Valentines, and a letter from my mother saying she had to go home
because she was very sick and couldn’t wait any longer. Picturing her standing there, waiting, really broke my heart.
Eventually, my father’s behavior got so bad that my mom stopped coming.
8
StripChurch.com
StripChurch.com
9
SPEAKING OUT Crissy is now becoming a voice
on behalf of those trapped in the sex industry.
My mom remarried and
I made the hard decision to
leave my dad and go live with
her, though she gave all her
time and attention to my new
stepdad. I would visit my dad
sometimes, but it was always
so hard to transition back and
forth between two entirely
different worlds—especially because I seemed to be in between
their arguments. I felt confused, like I was being pulled in different
directions.
I spent most of my teens isolated in my bedroom, but around
the age of seventeen, I started my first real dating relationship, a
college guy. He and I were sexually active, but he told me if I ever got
pregnant we would get married and have the baby. To me, having a
baby signified having a love that would always be there… but when
I did end up pregnant, the guy didn’t marry me—he took me to get
an abortion.
While I was at the clinic, the technician asked me if I wanted to
see the baby’s heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor, and when I saw
this tiny little blinking light, representing the heartbeat inside of me,
I left immediately. My mom wanted me to “succeed” in life, and she
thought having a baby would get in the way, so she took me back to
have the abortion despite my protests. I was fully awake and aware
of everything that was going on during the procedure, and my heart
shattered when that life was literally sucked out of me.
I sank into depression, and in order to get out,
“relationships” became my addiction. I had to have a
man in my life to feel like I was worthy of love. I looked to men to
tell me I was beautiful, to make me feel protected, and to give me a
sense of stability—things my dad never did. Many of these men were
unhealthy, and sometimes brought porn into the relationship. I felt
ugly when they looked at other women that way, but little did I know
that one day I would transform myself into one of those girls.
One day while surfing the internet, I found a modeling website
where models would post their portfolios online for free and get
work. The models didn’t look like “real” models, but they had people
testifying about how great they were to work with, so I gave it a
try. I never intended to pose in anything less than a bikini, and at
first I turned down many jobs. However, my life was spiraling out
of control, and eventually I got to a point where I just didn’t care
anymore. I felt so empty, and the emails telling me I was beautiful
started to fill the void that the men couldn’t.
That’s when I said “Yes” to my first nude photo shoot.
It felt very unnatural to meet a stranger in a hotel room and have
him shoot every inch of my body. I was nervous, but I just checked
out—the same way I did whenever I had been sexually abused when
I was younger. The sense of danger was almost exciting to me because
I wanted to end up dead. I would even fantasize about it—that’s just
how messed up I was.
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I met another man and started what became an abusive relationship.
He was very charming and sometimes reminded me of my dad,
but he was physically intimidating and had no problem using his
physicality against me. The idea of dying both thrilled and terrified
me, and my new boyfriend told me every day he was going to put me
six feet under.
Because I no longer had any boundaries for a shoot, my career
started to take off, to the point where my boyfriend took over and
became my manger. We moved from Florida to San Diego, California,
where I didn’t know anyone except him. I couldn’t get away from
him. He raped me, he beat me, he controlled my life. I tried to get
away from him, but everyone I met was too scared of him to help me,
so I turned to drugs to cope.
I spent 3 ½ years that way, until we decided to hire an assistant
to move in with us and help out with my career. He saw how my
boyfriend was treating me and became an angel to me, helping me
get out of the relationship and move two hours up the coast to Los
Angeles, where I took control of my own career.
Now that I was calling the shots, I started making more money
than I had ever made before in the porn industry. I stopped working
with men and had a sense of accomplishment at finally being stable
Continued on Page 19
In Print Crissy’s story continues to
provide a platform from which to share the
redemption she’s found in Christ (below).
Directory
StripChurch USA
01
Phoenix, AZ
Cakes of Love
Leader: Lisa Jernigan & Patty Wyatt
Email: lisa@girlfriendit.com
www.phoenix.stripchurch.com
04
Ministry Name:
03
12
Tempe, AZ
Ministry Name: Just Love
Leader: Sumer Fisher
Email: sumerfisher@yahoo.com
www.tempe.stripchurch.com
Sacramento, CA
Ministry Name: As You Are Outreach
Leader: Jennie Nagy
Email: info@ayaoutreach.com
www.sacramento.stripchurch.com
Location:
StripChurch.com
15
Ministry Name:
Manhattan, KS
The Homestead
Leader: Deb Kluttz
Email: dkluttz@westviewcommunity.com
www.manhattan.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
Location:
San Diego, CA
Ministry Name: JC’s Girls
Leader: Sheri Brown
Email: jcsgirlsrock@yahoo.com
www.sandiego.stripchurch.com
12
16
Tampa, FL
Ministry Name: Loving You Where You Are At
Leader: Christa Hernandez
Email: lovingyouwhereyouareat@gmail.com
www.tampa.stripchurch.com
Louisville, KY
Ministry Name: Scarlet Hope Inc.
Leader: Rachelle Starr
Email: rachelle@scarlethope.org
www.louisville.stripchurch.com
06
Orange County, CA
Divine
Leader: Jaime Hindman
Email: jaimehindman@yahoo.com
www.orangecounty.stripchurch.com
13
Savannah, GA
Simple Love, Inc.
Leader: Michelle Langley
Email: michelle@iamsimplelove.com
www.savannah.stripchurch.com
17
Lexington, KY
BeLoved
Leader: Sandra Savage
Email: info@be-loved.cc
www.miami.stripchurch.com
07
Los Angeles, CA
Ministry Name: After Hours Ministry
Leader: Jennifer Cecil
Email: standingingrace@gmail.com
www.southla.stripchurch.com
14
Fort Wayne, IN
Ministry Name: 410 Ministries
Leader: Cindy Slick
Email: slicklady1@gmail.com
www.fortwayne.stripchurch.com
18
08
Denver, CO
Ministry Name: Her Name is Mine
Leader: Jessica Prezkuta
Email: Jessica.prezkuta@gmail.com
www.denver.stripchurch.com
Phoenix, Arizona
Location:
Doral, FL
XXX Libre
Leader: Karina Gil
Email: info@xxxlibre.com
www.doral.stripchurch.com
Location:
05
Strip Church Network on Location:
02
11
Ministry Name:
Location:
On many occasions during our monthly visits to the different clubs
in this area, the dancers ask us, “Why are you doing this?” Our
answer is always the same: “Because we care for you.”
On a recent visit to one of the clubs, this exchange took place and
then the dancer, upon hearing our answer, began tearing up. Then
she said, “I know I’ve met you for a reason.” She began sharing with
us about how she had a background in church and God, but was
now in an abusive relationship and had just left him for the fourth
time. She’s changing her phone number and not going back.
She had recently found Scars and Stilettos, Harmony Dust’s
book, lying around in one of the clubs where she worked, so she
picked it up and read it. It’d had a remarkable impact on her, and she
began breaking down even more as she recounted the story to us.
Eventually she pulled herself together and walked away, still crying,
only to come back once more and embrace one of our teammates.
Right now she’s still in the club, but we know God is at work, and we
feel honored to do what we do. We can’t imagine not being involved
in these girls lives; experiencing moments like this every month is
confirmation for us to continue doing what we’re doing.
Antelope Valley, CA
Cherished
Leader: Kate Wedell
Email: cherishedstrpchrch@gmail.com
www.antelopevalley.stripchurch.com
Location:
Location:
Ministry Name:
09
Location:
Location:
Ministry Name:
Location:
Location:
Location:
Ministry Name:
Detroit, MI
Ministry Name: My Sister Song
Leader: Laura Urenda
Email: mysistersong@yahoo.com
www.detroit.stripchurch.com
Location:
Location:
Greeley, CO
Love Made Claim
Leader: Natasha Hurt
Email: njhurt3@yahoo.com
www.greeley.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
10
Location:
Miami, FL
Ministry Name: BeLoved
Leader: Sandra Savage
Email: info@be-loved.cc
www.miami.stripchurch.com
Location:
An evening of honest and open talk about porn.
Whether you are a mother or spouse of a porn
user, or you struggle yourself, this night is for you to
talk porn. Hear from people who get it: former
sex industry insiders, former porn
addicts, and the XXXchurch pastors.
This event is for women and young
women junior high and up.
Entertainment
Expect
and great teaching at every
Porn and Pastries event. Each evening will cover all the different issues surrounding pornography,
featuring women who were formerly in the sex industry, women who have been deep into
porn, and women whose marriages were affected by their spouse’s addiction to porn. And
of course, the XXXchurch pastors. In addition to teaching, you never know who else will show up.
We promise you will never forget your night at Porn and Pastries.
Visit www.pornandpastries.com or contact michelle@xxxchurch.com
StripChurch.com
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Since we began the Strip Church Network, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve linked
42 ministries together to provide a message of hope and
unconditional love across 25 states and 3 countries. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
just a snapshot of our current reach as we continue to grow!
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The Strip Church network has
grown globally with ministries in
Canada, Australia and the Virgin Islands.
11 10
Directory
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Grand Rapids, MI
Eve’s Angels
Leader: Anny Donewald
Email: info@evesangels.org.com
www.grandrapids.stripchurch.com
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Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN
Ministry Name: Strands of Pearls
Leader: Kjersti Bohrer
Email: stripchurchmpls@hotmail.com
www.minneapolis.stripchurch.com
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St. Louis, MO
Ministry Name: Strip Church St. Louis
Leader: Lindsay Parsons
Email: stl.stripchurch@gmail.com
www.stlouis.stripchurch.com
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Greensboro, NC
Ministry Name: As I Am
Leader: Kathy McClay
Email: kathy.mcclay@gmail.com
www.greensboro.stripchurch.com
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Little Silver, NJ
Ministry Name: GIRLFRANN
Leader: Suzanne Borkoski
Email: suzanne@relevantnj.com
www.newjersey.stripchurch.com
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Location:
Ministry Name:
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Location:
Location:
Location:
Location:
South Jersey, NJ
Emerge
Leader: Kelly Master
Email: stj.emerge@gmail.com
www.southjersey.stripchurch.com
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Las Vegas, NV
Ministry Name: AGAPE
Leader: Lydia Hatting
Email: lydmarx2@cox.net
www.lasvegas.stripchurch.com
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Las Vegas, NV
Hookers for Jesus
Leader: Annie Lobert
Email: info@hookersforjesus.net
www.vegas.stripchurch.com
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Carson City, NV
Ministry Name: Xquisite
Leader: Brenda Simpson
Email: brenda2326@gmail.com
www.carsoncity.stripchurch.com
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Brunswick, OH
Ministry Name: Girls of Hope
Leader: Laurie O’Connell
Email: vipbrunswick@gmail.com
www.brunswick.stripchurch.com
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Location:
Ministry Name:
Location:
Location:
Ministry Name:
Ministry Name:
Location:
Location:
Oklahoma City, OK
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Eternal Voices Elevated (EVE)
Leader: Delissa Payne
Email: dpayne06@yahoo.com
www.okc.stripchurch.com
Location:
Salem, OR
Ministry Name: POLE Gems
Leader: Cynthia Shaver
Email: we.love.strippers@gmail.com
www.salem.stripchurch.com
Philadelphia, PA
Emerge
Leader: Kelly Master
Email: stj.emerge@gmail.com
www.southjersey.stripchurch.com
Absolutely. Enhance your ministry efforts with our “Jesus Loves
Strippers” Bibles! This slim book features the Gospel of John, as
well as many testimonies from women who used to be in the
industry until they discovered the depths of Jesus’ love for them.
Books are available in bundles of ten for only $25; order yours at
StripChurch.com/Bibles.
“Come to
me, all you
who are
weary and
burdened,
and I will give
you rest.”
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Tacoma, WA
Esteem
Leader: Tiffany Bluhm
Email: esteem@life-center.org
www.tacoma.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
Location:
Columbia, SC
Ministry Name: Pearls
Leader: Kimberly Poovey
Email: stripchurchcolumbia@gmail.com
www.columbia.stripchurch.com
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Seattle, WA
Ministry Name: Strip Church Seattle
Leader: Leslie Hawkins
Email: stripchurch@gmail.com
www.seattle.stripchurch.com
Location:
Location:
Houston, TX
Ministry Name: HOPE
Leader: Amy Polak & Heloisa Annunciacao
Email: hope4houston@gmail.com
www.houston.stripchurch.com
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Marshfield, WI
Sweet Treats
Leader: Angel Hirsch
Email: sweettreatsangel@gmail.com
www.marshfield.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
Location:
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
We Are Cherished
Leader: Polly Wright
Email: info@wearecherished.com
www.dallas.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
DOES JESUS REALLY LOVE STRIPPERS?
Ministry Name:
Location:
Ministry Name:
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Newport News, VA
Established Footsteps
Ministry - Cherished
Leader: Sharon Thomas
Email: establishedfootsteps@hotmail.com
www.newportnews.stripchurch.com
Location:
Salt Lake City, UT
Ministry Name: Jewels
Leader: Misty Baxter
Email: info@youareajewel.org
www.saltlakecity.stripchurch.com
Location:
Strip Church Network on Location:
Marshfield, Wisconsin
“The girls are really talking and liking whatever it is that you’re
doing when you’re here,” said one club owner. “Please keep it
up. I can really see a difference in their attitudes when you leave.”
We saw the proof of this when, one evening as we left the club for
that night, we didn’t say goodbye to one of the dancers. She was
with a customer and we felt it would be best not to interrupt her. We
convened in the parking lot after we left, and a few moments later,
the back door of the club flew open, and out came running this
same dancer! “Dressed” exactly as you would imagine!
“You can’t leave without telling me goodbye!” she joyfully said,
leaning in to give each member of our team a hug. “I need a hug
from you,” she continued. “I really like what you’re doing for us—it
makes me feel special to know some ladies here give a rip about
a bunch of strippers.”
– Jesus
StripChurch.com
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Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Strip Church Ontario
Leader: Lisa Canning
Email: lisacanning@rogers.com
www.ontario.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
StripChurch International
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Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Ministry Name: Lilies Among Thorns
Leader: Danee Klassen & Lyzanne Foth
Email: latsaskatoon@gmail.com
www.saskatoon.stripchurch.com
Location:
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Ministry Name: Strip Church Vancouver
Leader: Amanda Carrasco
Email: amanda@xxxchurch.com
www.vancouver.stripchurch.com
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Brisbane, Australia
Ministry Name: Hope Foundation
Leader: Bronwen Healy
Email: bronwen@hopefoundation.org.au
www.brisbane.stripchurch.com
Location:
Location:
Join the
Network
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St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Strip Church St. Croix
Leader: Angela Klein
Email: a3klein@gmail.com
www.stcroix.stripchurch.com
Location:
Ministry Name:
Start developing your ministry team to reach women working in the
sex industry. Find encouragement, experience, prayer, resources, and
power for ministry. Attend one of our Strip Church Trainings, and be
invited to join the Strip Church Network. StripChurch.com
See page
three for
Details
Continued from Page 10
on my own and able to take care of myself. I did end up getting stuck
in a financial trap though, and when I thought about leaving the
industry, I had no idea how I would survive.
About a year after moving to LA, I met a new boyfriend who didn’t
abuse me and I thought that, since he didn’t beat me and didn’t mind
that I was in porn, he was perfect for me. We dated and lived together
for a year and a half before the adult entertainment industry took a
hit on my personal life.
He was an actor, and while he was out of town to work on a
mainstream movie, he went to a strip club. In my own twisted way
of thinking, it wasn’t right for him to be lusting after other women
because I was faithful to him! I had worked so hard over all these years
at being that perfect fantasy girl so that men in my life wouldn’t want
anyone else. But now the reality hit me hard: even with all the money,
the fame, the glamour, and adoration, I still wasn’t quite enough.
I fell to the floor and for the first time in
forever, cried out to God. I asked Him to show me He
was there, to give me a sign because I hadn’t felt His presence in my
life since I was a little girl.
Two days later, I visited my boyfriend on location, where I began
talking with a guy on the set. He asked me what I did for a living,
and I tried skirting around the issue but finally admitted I did porn.
“Do you believe in God?” he asked.
I laughed. I was in shock—no one had mentioned God to me since
I was a little girl, and in that moment I realized this was the sign
I’d prayed for. It turns out that this man was a Christian, so I went
outside to pray with him and accepted Jesus back in to my heart.
My life changed completely. I left the relationship and moved out
on my own for the first time ever. I left the porn industry without
a plan, leaving behind a website that I was still under contract with
and that still wanted to pay me. I didn’t accept any more money from
the site because I felt God wanted me to take a bold stand and show
others the faith I had that He would take care of me.
It was only a couple of months before someone referred me to a
ministry called Treasures, where I always knew I had a safe place to go
for counseling and support, even though it took me a while to accept
that help. I had been like so many of the other girls: seeking help,
then pushing it away when it was offered. But once I was ready for
it, I went full force into my healing journey, participating in special
events, volunteering on outreaches, and attending the support group.
Fast forward 5 ½ years and here I am: still alive by God’s grace!
I am now working on staff at Treasures and as a part of the Strip
Church Network. I am speaking and am on the care team, giving me
the opportunity to talk to the girls one-on-one and share my personal
journey to a new life. I also coordinate the therapist-led support group
each week. I work in the best and most supportive environment
possible, and by working here I have regained my self-confidence so
that if it is God’s will I can easily transition into another job.
finding her voice. Crissy lends her voice to Strip Church events
training women how best to minister to girls in the industry.
But mostly, I have sought after God and after deep inner healing
in an atmosphere of continual encouragement. Recently, we started
hosting different workshops, from rebuilding your life to finances
to health and fitness. The last one I attended was on post-abortion
recovery, which marks the start of healing a broken place I still have.
I’m no longer co-dependent and my worth is no longer based upon
what others say. I have healthy boundaries in my relationships and
have learned how to guard my heart. I feel like I am able to finally
make healthy decisions in my life!
It’s exciting to see myself growing stronger and stronger and leaving
my fears behind. I have learned what it is to be filled with joy and for
the first time in my life I truly do feel loved, valued and purposed!
I have learned what it is to be filled
with joy and for the first time in my life I truly do feel loved,
valued and purposed!
Crissy
StripChurch.com
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&
Training Alumni Event
TOPICS
* Developing yourself as a leader
* How to get inside the clubs
* What to do once you get inside
* Your reach beyond the clubs
* Dos & don’ts
* Developing your team
* Financial support
A Strip Church training event is the best way to get insights and
experiences from women who have been ministering effectively
in the sex industry. Do you want to know how to reach women
in your city who are in need of grace and hope? Have you been
trying to get started but don’t know where to begin? Whether you
have already started an outreach or are planning to, this training
will better equip you to reach women working in the industry.
Our trainings include presentation and discussion, training
manuals, a chance to meet the team, and hands-on training during
our strip club outreach (outreach for ministry leaders only).
It’s time for you to join us at one of our Strip Church Trainings:
~ Where & When ~
DALLAS / ForT WORTH, TeXas*
February 8th - 10th, 2013
San Diego
September 20-22nd, 2013
Miami
October 11-13, 2013
~ Costs ~
$250 for leaders
Includes In-the-Clubs Ministry Experience
Whether you are a current member of the Strip Church Network or
have simply previously attended a Strip Church training, you and your
team are cordially invited to join us February 8-10th, 2013 for our
inaugural alumni event in Dallas, Texas! This will be the very first of
these opportunities, and we hope to make them available in tandem with
at least one—if not more—of our training events each year.
So what’s different about the alumni event? What sets it
apart from our regular training events? During this weekend, you’ll receive
additional training and encouragement from a ton of great speakers, as
well as have chances to meet with and encourage our concurrent Dallas
training attendees.
~ WHERE & WHEN ~
- Speakers will include -
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
March 22nd - 23rd, 2013
Patty Wyatt & Lisa Jernigan GirlfriendIt.com
Annie Lobert HookersforJesus.net
Anny Donewald EvesAngels.org
~ Costs ~
$99
Craig Gross XXXchurch.com
more
If you’d like more
information or to
register, visit
StripChurch.com/
alumni.html
Rachel Collins XXXchurch.com
Visit StripChurch.com for
additional cities and dates.
$150 for each
additional team member
Note: we can only accommodate
one person (the leader) from each team
on the Outreach Ministry Experience.
Email tara@stripchurch.com with any questions.
Ryan Russell XXXchurch.com
The alumni gathering will meet in the same hotel as the regular training
session attendees, and both groups will share opening and closing
sessions, providing an excellent time for team retreats, refresher courses,
and training new team members alongside your experienced ones.
We couldn’t be more excited about all the ways this new form of
training can grow, develop, and extend the ministries you are so diligently
and passionately leading across the world.
Yep, contact tara@stripchurch.com here too!
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StripChurch.com
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Arizona
Miami Training Recap
W
e always expect big things from
the amazing ministries in the Strip
Church Network, but sometimes those big
things happen right in front of us, and they
make us surprised, honored, and humbled
to be allowed to work in this vital and
important ministry.
During our recent Strip Church Training
in beautiful Miami, Florida, 28 women
joined us from all across the country. These
fierce warriors came from all over—from
Minnesota to New York, from North
Carolina to the Virgin Islands—to learn
how to start a strip club ministry in their city.
This was our first time to offer this
training on the East Coast, and we couldn’t
have been more excited about all the new
cities represented at the event, as well as the
different kinds of leaders we met: women
who used to be in the industry, stay-at-home
moms, a youth program director, travel
agents, and other people from all walks of
life, every single one of them passionate
about letting women in the sex industry
know they are loved and valued.
But one of the women who attended was
actually no longer in the industry directly as
a result of this ministry! Two years ago, she
was trapped and offered escape by a Strip
Church affiliate, and now here she was in
Miami to receive training from some of the
very people who had helped her out. She
was no longer a slave; she was a passionate
champion, eager to go reach other women
exactly like the one she used to be.
On Friday night, she went with all the
other trainees to do an outreach, where we
split into three separate teams and visited 20
different strip clubs around Miami. By the
end of the night, we’d handed out over 900
gift bags to different club workers!
It was indeed an incredible weekend
of sowing seeds, building up leaders,
encouraging one another in our faith
journeys, and learning the ins and outs of
running a non-profit organization. It was
a marvelous time, and we look forward
with anticipation to our upcoming training
sessions in other cities, as well as our
upcoming Alumni Event in Dallas, Texas.
This is why we do what we do.
Thank you for your help.
“I had no idea how this ministry
worked, so getting to experience it
firsthand was absolutely amazing and
has ignited incredible passion in my
heart for the women and their value
and expressing to them that they are
loved and valued.”
–Angela
“It was an awesome weekend. The Lord
is most definitely up to something in
His desire to see His kids come back
to Him. Thank you for empowering us
all, and for the work you do day in and
day out! You walk in Holy Spirit power
and nothing can defeat that!”
-Natasha
“The training made me more excited for
Life doesn’t fit in
a neat little box.
GirlfriendIt, our Strip Church
affiliate in the Phoenix, Arizona
area, sprang from our recognition
that all women share similar
needs: to belong in a community,
to realize they matter, to know
they have a purpose. For
many women life is messy,
complicated, and unpredictable;
words that also apply to
anyone desiring to passionately
participate with God.
The sex industry is not
a respecter of persons
and is not limited to a particular
race or economic status. Economic
hardships have hit our families and
communities, and some women are turning to the industry for sheer survival, just to
support themselves and their kids. Strip clubs are also filled with college-age girls who
need to earn money for school, who naively entered for “just a few months,” not knowing
how easy it is to get trapped in a world they never anticipated.
People tend to place labels on others all the time—whether consciously or subconsciously—
especially on those in the sex industry. Unfortunately, along with those labels, we also send
out judgmental and critical vibes that are felt deeply. But what if we quit the label-making
business, shut down our “box companies,” and embraced our messy and complicated lives,
inconveniently and continually pressing the boundaries of the boxes?
Several years ago we asked ourselves, “Are our hearts beating for that one girlfriend?” On
this journey each of us on our team has also discovered that we ourselves at times are that one
girlfriend who needs to be reminded of the radical, transforming love of Jesus and experience
His modern-day miracles. How can it not cause our hearts to flutter? How could we miss out
on the opportunity to join in “only God” moments and miracles?
It takes a team of passionately surrendered individuals who
bring their life experiences—including hurts, disappointments, and challenges—to the
table. In our case, each month it starts around a Starbucks table as we prayerfully prepare to
go into the clubs. We never know what to expect, and it is that anticipation that keeps us
aware of our need for God to show up! We have found an amazing community of friendship
among ourselves, even though there are differences in ages, stages of life, personalities, and
backgrounds. A couple of our team members are
former dancers who can authentically speak
into the women’s lives.
Women in this industry need people
who will press the boundaries of the
neat boxes and dare to reach out.
Thank you XXXchurch for living
outside the box! We appreciate our
partnership with our church, Central
Christian AZ as well as GirlfriendIt as
together we continually break out of
traditional and cultural boxes!
the ministry and took away the anxiety
that I had about training and starting
this ministry. It also laid out a bunch of
‘common sense’ type of advice that I
wouldn’t have thought of… that really
prepared me for going into the clubs.”
-June
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Patty and Lisa
StripChurch.com
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Las Vegas
Y
ou would think my rock-bottom as a
“high-class call girl” (read: “prostitute” which itself is just another
word for “being sex-trafficked”) would’ve been the time my pimp hogtied me and threw me in the trunk of my car, telling me he was going
to drive me out to the Las Vegas desert and bury my freshly-killed body.
Or perhaps it should be another time when, upon learning I was planning on leaving the glamorous life of being sex-trafficked in Vegas, my
pimp had me kidnapped while I was pumping gas, beaten until my nose
was broken, stripped naked with all my hair chopped off, and then beaten some more with an iron fireplace poker while being spat upon.
Maybe it should be one of the many times I saw one of my friends—
and fellow prostitutes—die. Seven altogether. One died in a taxicab
from a drug overdose; one was shot in the face point-blank in a brothel;
one was strangled in a hotel room and put in a suitcase; one was stabbed
to death by her client; one got killed while in jail; one died of bladder
cancer; and one died from complications of AIDS.
What about when I contracted Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer,
and kept selling my body in order to pay my medical bills? I spent a total of
three years going through intense radiation and chemotherapy, wearing
wigs when I went on escort calls, vomiting violently in the bathroom af-
terwards. Surely that was the time I hit rockbottom and reconsidered my life?
No. None of those. I gave myself many
other opportunities to lose everything,
like the period I spent addicted to cocaine,
Oxycontin, Lortabs, Xanax, alcohol, cigarettes, and gambling. Or the time after that
where I chased every type of spiritualism
out there, from Buddhism to Wicca to
vampirism. Or the period after that when
I left my life as an escort, got in a relationship with a successful businessman, and
began to worship at the temple of money.
Obviously, no one ever starts out in the
sex industry with an ambition to become a
strung-out and debased shell of themselves.
It happens over time, little by little, with
hundreds of compromises along the way. I
enabled myself to make those compromised
choices by developing an alter ego of sorts.
It wasn’t Annie making those decisions—it
was someone I named “Fallen.”
Yes, “Fallen.”
Annie was weak and troubled; Fallen was
strong and secure. Annie was wounded and
fearful; Fallen was unhurt and brave. My
lifestyle would’ve eaten Annie alive; Fallen
just got chewed up and spit out.
She was a fallen angel, and she could
take it.
And take it she did, for a long time. For
more than a decade, in fact. Yes, there was
a certain amount of surface glamour involved in the lifestyle of a high-class Vegas escort, and even more in the corporate
“Fallen left and the
real Annie came back
and Jesus gave me
another chance.”
world that I joined afterward. But try as I might, my life as “Fallen” couldn’t
fill the ever-expanding void I felt within my soul.
Instead, I tried to fill it with marathon sessions spent on the floor of my
walk-in closet in my million-dollar home, with only my alter ego, my drugs,
my smokes, and my booze to keep me company.
It seemed like light-years away from the little girl I started out as. For
the first almost-decade of my life, I was simply a sweet, innocent soul who
went to church every week with her family and learned all about God and
Jesus in Sunday School.
Until I was sexually abused at the age of eight. That changed everything.
Instead of thinking of God as a loving Father, I imagined Him as having
a big hammer, just waiting to smash me if I did anything wrong! So I hid
my secrets and didn’t trust anyone.
My family also moved around so much that I went to seven different
schools during my childhood. I felt rejected much of the time but hung on
to my virginity until, when I was 18, my boyfriend convinced me we would
become closer and that he would “love” me more if we had sex. So I gave
in… and he dumped me.
I was devastated. Angry. Hurt. And it was at that
moment I decided to rebel. I listened to the message of pop culture and
decided to define my self-worth by looking for love in all the wrong places,
with wrong people—people with issues just like mine. I swallowed the pill
that pop culture gave me so I wouldn’t be seen as a prude or weirdo. I
hoped everything would be all right if I just kept a pretty smile on my face.
And that’s how I got into the lifestyle.
Here’s how I got out: I had so much pain, anger, shame, guilt, and regret in
my life that I decided to erase it, so I overdosed on cocaine, alcohol, Xanax,
pain pills, and somas in one night. And as all that hit my system, I fell to the
ground, the physical pain in my chest scaring me to no end. Loud ringing in
my ears; a tangible sense of isolation laying on me like a heavy blanket.
This was real. This was death, approaching.
And in the midst of it, I said, “Jesus, I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I can’t
die like this! Please, Jesus, if You’re real, give me another chance!”
You know what happened? Part of me died that day: the “Fallen” part!
Fallen left and the real Annie came back and Jesus gave me another
chance. It wasn’t long after that someone told me how God loved me…
and I finally, at long last, believed it. My heart melted, and I took the leap of
faith and dedicated my entire life to Jesus.
Soon afterward, He called me to start Hookers for Jesus in Las Vegas, so
I could go back and reach all the ladies I’d left behind when I left the sex
industry. He’s been faithful ever since and has opened all kinds of doors for
this ministry. He’s been faithful in my life, too—I’m now happily married
to the love of my life, who supports me in all I do! Instead of Fallen, I’ve
been resurrected!
As Christians, we can be pitiful or powerful in whatever we do. We make
our own choices. So if we have the power to make a difference, to change the
world, then we should do something. Maybe we should do it now.
Annie
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Kentucky
Florida
with people, but I defined “healthy” as living together and
trying to not sleep with other people, all while stripping and
watching up to five hours of porn a day.
In 2002, I visited the Internext Porn Convention in
Miami. I had just begun looking at starting a pornography
During those first few years after giving my life to Jesus,
there was a lot of healing work to do. I got to walk through
the earlier abandonment issues I had. I got to really, truly
forgive myself for the decisions I’d made, and I began to see
myself the way that God sees me. Pure. Forgiven. Redeemed.
Three years later, I started developing numerous groups to
help women find freedom at The Mat, a ministry of Quest
Community Church in Lexington. Since then, almost
I felt disqualified from
loving or being loved.
Beloved
I
grew up feeling alone and isolated, spending a large amount of time by myself. So when I found some
magazines at the age of ten, it only made sense they would spark an addiction that began to rule my life
even at that early age. I looked at those pictures and thought, “Hey, that is what a woman is supposed
to be.” By the time I got to college, I had a full-blown porn addiction.
We moved from
state to state and
town to town, but
nothing helped the
downward spiral
of my heart
My addiction to porn left a void in me that I tried to fill with excessive partying, but it
didn’t work. I got married in college, got divorced, started drinking heavily, and after my sophomore year,
dropped out of school. The next fall I went to Ohio with some friends… and became a go-go dancer to
help pay some bills. My friends asked me to move out, so I moved in with a customer who was almost 40
years older than me. I hated every minute of it.
After saving every penny I could, I got on a bus and moved in with a man I’d had an affair with the
previous summer. He left his wife and became my second husband, while I added alcohol and cocaine to
my list of addictions. I started stripping at a club in town, thinking that, since I had been a go-go dancer,
this wouldn’t be much different. Unhappy in my marriage, I turned to other men and began a series of
affairs, leading to two pregnancies and two abortions. I started a downward spiral and one night, after
a three-day binge, I overdosed on crack cocaine and almost died. By the age of 24, I had destroyed my
second marriage and gotten divorced again.
To leave the world I had created, I fled to Mexico City, where I began
a massive string of encounters with both men and women that left me waking up alone in hotels not
knowing who I had been with the night before, or waking up with multiple partners around me. I started
having sex for money with anyone who would pay enough.
My rock-bottom came the morning I woke up on the side of the road after having been raped and
thrown out of a car by three police officers and a taxi driver. My manager called an English-speaking
twelve-step program in Mexico. It was July 15th, 1996, my first day of sobriety from alcohol and cocaine.
I’ve been sober since.
I turned my attention to making as much money as I could. I would try to have “healthy” relationships
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production company with a friend of mine, but by the end
of the convention, I was so upset at where my life was, and
even though I was surrounded by people, I felt totally alone.
I thought a change of locations could help me, so that fall
I moved to Lexington, Kentucky. Not long after, a friend of
mine invited me to church, which sounded like the craziest
idea I’d ever heard. I was used to this idea of hellfire and
brimstone, hymns and condemnation, and conservative
dress codes.
But more than that, I felt disqualified from loving or
being loved.
Still, I went. When I first walked into church, I was
met with love and grace from people and from God. I asked
lots of questions about who this man Jesus was and could
He really love me despite what I had done and even will
do—the bad and the good. And it turns out He does. On
April 27th, 2003, after six months of questioning, I finally
got a picture of grace and asked Jesus for His forgiveness, to
come live in my heart, and to lead my life. He made me a
brand-new person, and He is restoring and redeeming parts
of my life that I had no idea could be healed.
1000 women have found freedom and hope from their
addictions, from substance abuse to sex and pornography to
everything in between. That same year, I got a clear picture
from God and became passionate about walking back into
the clubs and letting women know that they are loved and
wanted by Jesus. So in 2007 I launched BeLoved and we
started doing just that.
God still kept redeeming everything:
after thinking I would be alone forever, in 2010, I married the
man of my dreams. Also, in early 2011 we joined the Strip
Church Network, knowing that we are stronger together. It is
such an amazing gift to have a network of women across the
globe to partner in prayer, leadership, and support.
My most recent battle came on November 17th, 2011:
the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a shock,
but with Jesus I know there is a plan of redemption from
even that. I gave my life to Jesus on April 27th, 2003.
That was the day that the battle was already won. My life
is His, and He will walk me through everything. Now I
am cancer-free and my husband and I recently moved
to Miami Beach, Florida to co-pastor a church while
continuing with BeLoved.
I truly believe that through God, all things are possible
and all things can be redeemed and restored. If you think
you have gone too far, that there is no hope for a fantastic
life, that you could never be loved, then borrow hope and
courage from my story.
No one has gone too far. Everyone who runs to Jesus
makes it. ~ Psalm 18:30 (MSG)
Sandra
I was diagnosed with breast cancer...
but with Jesus I know there is a plan of
redemption from even that.
StripChurch.com
27
PO Box 50048
Pasadena CA 91115